Komatipoort croc victim identified, but DNA tests still pending

A 59-year-old man who went missing after his vehicle was swept off a bridge in Komatipoort has been identified, but authorities are still awaiting forensic confirmation that human remains recovered from a crocodile belong to him. The man has been named as Gabriel Batista, a Gauteng-based businessman and owner of Border Country Inn. Human remains believed to be those of Batista were discovered inside a crocodile in the Komati River following an intensive search operation that started last month.

Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo said DNA testing is underway to confirm the identity of the remains as Batista. This comes after a week-long search for the missing businessman, and the team identified a crocodile in the river suspected of carrying out the attack, and it was euthanised. The necessary permission was obtained to euthanise the crocodile.

It was then that human remains were found and retrieved. Batista was reported missing on April 27 after his Ford Ranger was found trapped on a low-lying bridge in the Komati River, which runs through Mpumalanga, Eswatini and Mozambique. According to Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter, of the Ehlanzeni Diving Unit, whose brave actions have since been praised by acting national police commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, Batista was believed to have drowned before being consumed by a crocodile.

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Search efforts had been complicated by dangerous conditions, including strong currents and a high concentration of crocodiles in the river. “The search was becoming increasingly difficult due to many crocodiles moving in and out of the river where the vehicle was recovered,” Potgieter said in a previous report.

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